​ Microplastics – Are You Consuming It?

The popularity of plastics has
exploded in the past 50 years with over 299 million tons produced in 2013. When companies design a new product
they often choose plastic as the material because it is easily formed, durable,
and cheap.

Look around, you can probably touch something plastic right
now. But is there even plastic in places we don’t expect it? Like our food? Or, even in our bodies? New research suggests there is.

In a pilot study with a small sample size, researchers
looked for microplastics in stool samples from eight people from Finland,
Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom and Austria.
To their surprise, every single sample tested positive for the presence of a
variety of microplastics.

What is Microplastic?

Plastic debris can come in all shapes and sizes, but those
that are less than five millimetres in
length (or about the size of a sesame seed) are called “microplastics.” As materials break down
and degrade they become smaller and smaller, like a seashell on the beach
slowly becomes many hundreds of fine granules of sand.

If you’ve ever relaxed for a day at the beach, you will most
certainly know that sand gets everywhere. In your hair, shoes, car, and soon
you’ve tracked it all through your house. Plastic is spreading in a very
similar fashion.

The Spread of Microplastics

Recently scientists
discovered that insects, like mosquitoes, are ingesting microplastics and transporting it afar,
contaminating previously untouched waterways and ecosystems. Professor Amanda
Callaghan from the University of Reading said:
“Much recent attention has been given to the plastics polluting our oceans, but
this research reveals it is also in our skies.”

As mosquitoes and other
insects ingest microplastics larger predators, like birds and fish, start to
accumulate these plastics in their bodies. Shoppers who eat fish and other
livestock should be concerned about the effects of plastic bioaccumulation in
their bodies.

The growing deposits of
plastic in our oceans is also concerning and there are few solutions or
willingness to begin cleaning it up. One of these garbage patches, located in
the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, has made global headlines. Dubbed
the “the great garbage patch” it has an estimated size of the state of Texas.

Recently, Starbucks, the
chain coffee shop headquartered in Seattle Washington, issued a statement
pledging to eliminate the use of plastic straws by 2020. However, as the
Canadian University paper, the McGill Tribune highlighted, it is a step in the right direction, but a small step. Straws
makeup 4% of the plastic trash by piece, but far less by weight.

The Health Implications of Consuming Microplastics

Microplastics are a broad definition of any plastic particle
under 5 millimetres and because of this,
it can be a collection of many different types of plastic, just like sand on
the beach. Closely examining sand will reveal is it composed of different types
of rock, like
quartz and feldspar.

There are many acknowledged concerns with consuming plastic.
These effects include:

Direct toxicity, as in the
cases of lead, cadmium, and mercury

Carcinogens, as in the case
of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP)

Endocrine disruption, which
can lead to cancers, birth defects, immune system suppression and
developmental problems in children

People can
be exposed to these chemicals not only in the manufacturing process of
plastics, but even through their use, or
the unknowing consumption of microplastics. We are all familiar with the scare
surrounding the use of plastics containing bisphenol A or more commonly known
as BPA. Higher doses of BPA are linked to infertility and other health
problems. There is not currently much research addressing the danger of the long-term ingestion of microplastics. It’s safe
to say it won’t be good for you.

How Do We Consume Microplastics?

Research is
indicating that microplastics are making their way into all of our sources of
food and water. The amount of plastic ending up in our ocean is expected to double by 2025.

Kara Lavender Law, professor of oceanography
at Sea Education Association (SEA) in Woods Hole, MA, said that in 2014 the
amount of microplastic in the ocean was equivalent to the amount of tuna fished
in a year, in other words, we are taking out tuna, and putting in plastic! This
is not good news for our planet or our health.

In a laboratory
setting scientists have shown that after a sea creature eats plastic certain
chemicals can be found in that sea creature’s tissue, meaning that if you were
to eat something that has previously eaten plastic you may too be ingesting
chemicals present in the plastic, like PCBs. There are strategies to minimize
your exposure to microplastics and to reduce your own plastic footprint.

Eat
foods lower on the food chain like fruits and vegetables

Avoid
the use of plastic water bottles

Don’t
use plastic bags at the grocery store

Say “no”
to plastic straws

Avoid
the use of plastic food storage containers

Filter your water with some sort of physical
filtration, like the ceramic filter (Santevia’s Countertop
with Fluoride Filter is a great example)

How do you Filter Microplastic?

Because microplastics
are similar in size to a sesame seed they are possible to filter with
the use of mechanical filtration. Using the Santevia
Countertop’s Ceramic Pre-Filter as an example, water passes slowly through the ceramic pre-filter removing suspended
particles from the water.

These microplastics are mechanically filtered
from the water because the pores of the filter are smaller than the
microplastics. Ceramic filters have a very small pore size, in the case of the ceramic pre-filter, 0.3 microns, meaning that
the Santevia Countertop’s pre-filter can even filter bacteria and parasites.